Louise Ashley

Dr Louise Ashley is an Associate Professor and IHSS Fellow at Queen Mary University of London’s School of Business and Management. Her research focuses on equality, diversity, and inclusion within elite professions such as law, accountancy, and investment banking, with a particular emphasis on socio-economic diversity, gender, and ethnicity. She leads research projects funded by the UK government’s Social Mobility Commission and has advised third-sector organizations like UpReach and the Bridge Group. Her work examines barriers to social mobility and evaluates organizational diversity programs.

Dr Ashley’s research includes comprehensive analyses of non-educational barriers to elite professions, socio-economic exclusion dynamics, and gender inequities in professional work environments. She has published in leading journals such as Human Relations and Work, Employment and Society, and her findings have been featured in mainstream media including BBC Radio 4, the New York Times, and The Guardian.

Her research grants include a £158,579 AHRC award for interdisciplinary civic theatre research (2021–2022) and a £25,900 Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission grant (2015). She supervises PhD students exploring topics like feminist identity in Chinese entrepreneurship. Dr Ashley holds roles on multiple advisory committees, including the City of London Corporation Social Mobility Taskforce and the JLL Foundation’s social equality initiatives.